Recently, an old friend of mine texted me a message...it says she has a baby...

As I was busy I largely ignored the message...but then today...I dunno why I decided to pop by her blog

And when I saw the photo of her baby, it swept me with such happiness, I immediately wanted to write this blogpost...I am so happy for my friend Josephine and her hubby Frankie and their baby Ethan...I can't explain why I am so happy... I just am.

It just seems so wonderful...maybe in a way...I am almost longing to get married and have my own baby too...

Maybe I am so happy because it raises my hopes that life and humanity isn't all that bad as I see a friend (who I used to go out in a group in and had so much fun teasing when we were both kids)have navigated and done so well in life...meeting a nice man...marrying and now having a baby... me n josephine as part of a catholic youth group YCS - circa 1995

Sometimes I was unreasonable things in life...needless things...I am fighting everyday...to get somewhere in this world...and yet, in my hometown of kuching...my friend's baby reminds me that maybe all I really want is love, happiness and a smile...

Well done Jo,Frankie and Ethan...and thanks for the cheer you gave me...

chinese new year 2008 -myself next to Frankie and Josephine in front of him

Mother -trailer 1

freshly out of the edit terminal,this is the first trailer for my film 'mother'...sorry for a few translation error and gramatical errors in the subtitling....was rushing it last night on little sleep....subtitling it at 4am....the part where she carry rice sacks...it should be peeling garlic...thanks for pointing it out CY...sorry, will be ammended later...i hope you'll have a look at it...i've never seen so much courage and raw will to live no matter what than in this person...

Look Mum...Toxic Drums

"Looks mum...i've got toxic drums...." is what I'll say had I been about 7 years of age and made these...today...I'd say the same but I rather say..."Look mum...your son is still playing with paint and he's 28 and earning from it!"

Who says art don't pay...but it's good mothers everywhere believe so...less men more share. But honestly...I tell you...art pays...it makes me have a pretty good life and so satisfied with what I do...

I am currently at work at a new stop motion animation...it's not a job...it's not anything for money...that's what people assume all working people should do everyday...make money, make money, make money....I am happy that I have a job where I can be always actively creating and get paid for it but I decided early on that in this life I will not do everything for money...I am not a slave to it...

It's a new animated (cartoon if you will)short film of a story that I want to tell. It's about our environment and what matters most in life....friends,love and life itself. You all have to see the finished film to enjoy it but for now let me share with you the little steps in making this film and how fun it all is.

Stop motion is an old animation technique where you create all the props and film them on a camera frame by frame to make an animated film...it's labor intensive and heavily utilised prior to the computer taking over everything but now it's largely a loss craft...so why do I do it and don't i just make it on a computer....

Well...it's hard work but it's alot of fun this way...

In the story...i need a toxic drum...as I illustrate in my storyboard



and so I set out to make them...recycling old soft drink cans....



i also need a drain...and so...



out come some old cardbox(from product packaging...I am enviromentally friendly)...snip snip...glue glue....paint paint and you get



drains....the reason why it's made in two so that it can be pulled apart to accomodate the camera...

well...as you can see...i am having alot of fun...wish to have the same fun? start doing stop motion animation yourself!!!! :P For those interested...I'll update on my stop motion project here from time to time! I am currently being assisted by Dennis Teh on the creations of this film. :)

Froggie's Bittersweet Valentine

The slideshow above is dedicated to my beautiful, very sporting and really cute though slightly cina-beng girlfriend (then again, i am quite cina pek)...Zhiling Chia. She's currently an aupair in America. We have had a long distance relationship for the last year or so....

I would be so happy to be hers but this valentine's day is a little sad for me as my girlfriend whom i love very much has left me. And though we had small breakups before...this time it may just be the real end...and so froggie is sad...It's not her fault...nor mine but our fault. As we are people from different walk of life...we have different ideals,wants and needs.And sometimes...arguements comes from the differing ideals....I can be quiet an ass sometimes...and I guess I was in this arguement wanting to of course win it...and well...she left me.It's funny how the arguement didn't matter anymore...I let her win it now.... I really tried to win her back...she's very much everything to me and despite having some flaws, she is a wonderful wonderful girlfriend....

dear...I am truly sorry...

I m imperfect dear but I feel it's not about perfection but loving inspite of the imperfection and possibly being romantic by finding perfection in togetherness.

also, dear...please don't say you want to be strong and don't want to be emotionally dependent on me...I want to be emotionally dependent on someone...I think that's why God made us in two...I am dependent emotionally on you because I love you...

dear...I am lonely because you are so far away but so long as you are my girlfriend at least I am not lonely at heart...now i am lonely at heart and it's not nice.

I am stressed out thinking...if we will still be...I can't close my eye because i'll see you and it's painful because you're not mine

dear...we had wonderful memories together...I don't want just those memories....I want you...more of you...

dear...I already love you alot and you know that. say you love me...and you'll have me.I am sorry...Happy Valentine's Day...



That aside...I was at the cinema for valentine eve...while there were many people there with flowers and their girlfriend/boyfriend that made my mind sort of wonder to my own sad situation above I was happy with people I love on the eve of valentine's day. I was with my grandfather, brother, father and granduncle...

I brought my grand-dad to the movie Rambo as he was the one who made me want to be a filmmaker and the rambo series of movies were one that we shared long ago...Rambo: First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part 2 and Rambo 3...classics! Well...traffic in town was horrendous so I m glad we got there with enough time to settle my granddad into his seat before going out to buy him a drink....i want a cold mix hot milo...because hot may be too hot for the old man....I told the girl...she gave me the ??? look. First pour in the cold milo...then add some hot onelah...aiyor...but she obliged after i explained....



A quick review of the film...
It felt very short...it was straight to the action brutal shit....there's no middle bit where the film gets it's intellectual meat...it's hey...lets just just start, establish a story as quick and straight to the action. But it's not a bad thing...somehow Stallone after all these years knows how to tap into the male pyche of liking to see a hero brutally kicking butt and that's exactly what he delivers to the dot. It's not your typical Rambo movie where he works alone....this one her has a bunch of mecenaries...these add on characters were cutboard cut-out with the usual 'baddie'good guy who gets his fair share of pain and gets stared down by stallone and the good soldier plus the extras for killing off...the usual.

One thing that stand out were the lines....awesome and somewhat philosphical like "how ironic it is to send the devil to do God's work"or "Live for Nothing or Die for Something" or the one where he asked "Are you bringing weapons? If you're not you're changing nothing" There were some point in the film which i feel could have been further polished to make great moments but somehow were wasted.One was the one where he had to run from an exploding british bomb...that could have ended with a signature action movie signature jump but it didn't. Still I enjoyed it...but i wish my girlfriend was there with me....wait...i wish i had a girlfriend....



So yeah...a bittersweet valentine for me.....

A belated Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

To Hug A Tree

At the recent Nokia filmmaking workshop,I asked all the participants outside for a moment...and to gather themselves round a very big tree negotiating through undergrowth carefully to get right to the trunk of the tree.They found my request weird...they look at me with curious eyes.Then I told them to all hold hands and hug the tree... hug the tree...hug the tree...and say tree beautiful tree. It's a scene from my new mobifilm...that is a film shot on a mobile phone. Wielding the N93, our camera stanley stands a few feet away capturing a scene of people hugging a tree.

Weird?

Most conservationists i know...tell people the earth is going to die and that we should and need to take aggressive steps to save the planet. However, alot of times, it falls on deaf ears as people are living in the hustle and bustle of life running from one concrete air con building to another and cannot have more disregard for the planet. But the situation is dire. It is evident...haven't you found yourself pulling your collar or wiping your sweat saying the weather is getting hotter? Haven't you turn a page of the paper and glanced a weird weather phenomenon?

Recently, watching the film 'An Inconvenient Truth' at YTL's climate change week really moved me...our planet is dying and if we love our lives...we should take aggressive steps to counter global warming and save this planet, our home. Am I starting to sound like any other environmentalist? Yes...and like any school teacher my calls is valid but is there anyone listening?

I felt, the most profound moment watching An Inconvenient Truth lies at the begining of the whole film...when Al Gore spoke of how he'd sink his feet into the mud by the stream, see the leaves ruffling, hear the birds chirping and wondered...what have i forgotten?

A tree. when we were monkeys...it provided us shade and shelter,it provided us food in the fruits it bore and the animals living around it that we hunt. It balances nature playing the key role in the food chain, absorbing decomposing materials(nitrate) in its roots and turning it back into leaves that eventually feed us, it gives us oxygen that we may breathe...need I say more?

Truly...how many of us have touched a tree in the last year? last 5 years? be honest...we tend to walk around trees. Do we stop and marvel at a tree? Do we say thank you to a tree? Do we even at the very least recognise what it is for us in our lives? Do answer honestly...

I think that no amount of preaching on why we should use both side of a paper,conserve water, conserve electricity and recycle etc etc...will take any effect or make any difference if we stay indeifference at heart...if we don't first start one thing...to love our planet...to at the very least love a tree that is rooted deep into the planet and our ecology.

The image of a seedling, a little plant is always used to resemble hope. There is still hope...so long as we first start believing in it and simply remember that our lives relies on the health of our planet...put aside our greed(honestly alot of us do have enough),our work and our self...and put our planet first.

Start small...simply by loving a tree...so go out and hug a tree...

At first, the participants were trying to avoid throwing their bodies on the dirty bark of a tree...but once the participants started hugging the tree...a weirdness sets in and giggles started to erupt...slowly turning into laughs...there was a sense of togetherness and yet there was a sense of silliness...and then... :)

Does anyone need to teach you how to treat your girlfriend? No. First love the planet...and you'll learn and be motivated on what to do to save it...

Froggie recycle almost every scrap of paper(has collected so many recycling receipt, it iself is worth recycling), try to water his plants from water collected in the rain, off room lights when not in use, turn off computer monitors, walk about 15mins to 1 utama even when there's a car,saparates batteries from other waste and try to minimise his ecological footsteps in any manner possible.He enjoys nature very very much when with pixie...whom he also loves very much...